In February this year, we circulated the e-lert below discussing upcoming amendments to the Alberta Guarantees Acknowledgement Act by Bill 44: Notaries and Commissioners Act and the new requirements to have an individual guarantor appear before a lawyer who is an active member of the Law Society instead of a notary as previously required. Bill 44 will come into force on April 30, 2015. A copy of the new form that will need to be executed by a barrister or solicitor in this regard can be found here.

Due to certain amendments that came into effect on December 17, 2014, the requirement that the lawyer acknowledging the guarantor be independent from the lawyer acting for the borrower has been removed.

It should be noted that the current requirement to have a notary is unique to Alberta.

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